Toshiba’s New Fast-Charging Battery Could Triple the Range of Electric Vehicles

A key focus of electric vehicle (EV) makers is maximizing the range users can get from each charge, and for that reason new battery technologies are poised to play a huge part in driving their adoption. Toshiba has developed a new fast-charging battery it claims could allow EVs to travel three times as far as they do now, and then be fully recharged again in a matter of minutes.

Toshiba’s Super Charge ion Battery (SCiB) has been around in various forms since 2007, with its chief claim to fame an ability to charge to 90% of capacity in just five minutes. It also boasts a life-span of 10 years and high levels of safety, and has found its way into a number of notable EVs, including Mitsubishi’s i MiEV and Honda’s Fit EV.

The current SCiB uses lithium titanium oxide as its anode, but Toshiba says it has now come up with a better way of doing things. The next-generation SCiB uses a new material for the anode called titanium niobium oxide, which Toshiba was able to arrange into a crystal structure that can store lithium ions more efficiently. So much so, that the energy density has been doubled.

Toshiba has tested out a 50-Ah version of the new battery and reckon that it too boasts excellent safety and a long life cycle, retaining more than 90% of its capacity after 5,000 charge cycles. It says that if incorporated into a compact EV, it would allow for a range of 320 km (186 mi) after just six minutes of ultra-rapid charging, which is around three times the range offered by a standard, similarly charged lithium-ion battery.

“We are very excited by the potential of the new titanium niobium oxide anode and the next-generation SCiBTM,” says Dr. Osamu Hori, Director of Corporate Research & Development Center at Toshiba Corporation. “Rather than an incremental improvement, this is a game changing advance that will make a significant difference to the range and performance of EV. We will continue to improve the battery’s performance and aim to put the next-generation SCiBTM into practical application in fiscal year 2019.”